Photographer Refuses to Take Portraits of Facebook Bullies

A Pennsylvania photographer canceled senior photo sessions with four high school girls after spotting nasty comments they made on Facebook.

Jennifer McKendrick says she came across a ‘burn book’ Facebook page, created by teens for writing negative comments about their classmates. You might think it’s a phase every gossipy high schooler goes through, but this one went a little too far, at least for McKendrick. Appalled by the cruel comments, the photographer also realized that the names on the screen matched the names of the clients who made an appointment with her for their senior photos.

McKendrick decided to cancel the sessions and posted on her blog that she doesn’t want to photograph “ugly people.”

“Realistically I know by canceling their shoots it’s not going to make them ‘nicer people,’” she wrote. “But I refuse to let people like that represent my business.”

Then, she emailed the four girls and their parents. She sent them explanations of why she was canceling the appointment along with screen shots of the mean Facebook comments as a proof. Later, she reported on her blog that two parents replied with apologies and saying that they were shocked by their daughters’ actions.